With a hard rubber puck heading at you in a blur, it is imperative not
only for your performance but also for your safety to have proper-fitting
performance hockey equipment. From your stick to your pads to your helmet,
your goalie equipment has to perform and protect.

All goalies need leg pads and a chest protector, as well as two different
types of gloves. Most modern leg and chest pads are made of a foam interior
with a synthetic leather material wrapped around it.

Leg Pads

Most goalie leg pads come in light colors to blend in with the ice and
board colors

Goalie pads come with two types of clips:
plastic and metal

Plastic clips are easier to close and open and are recommended for
younger players

Metal clips will last longer but are a little more difficult to
manipulate

Determining Your Leg Pad Size

Goalie leg pads generally come in sizes ranging from 26 to 34 inches

To determine your proper size, measure your leg from your ankle to the
top of your kneecap. Then measure from the middle of your kneecap to half way
up your thigh.

Add these two numbers for your goalie leg pad size

If you are between sizes, choose the larger size for additional
protection

Some goalies prefer their pads an inch or two shorter for increased
maneuverability

Chest Pads

Chest pads offer protection to the vital chest and heart areas

Chest pads are generally made of nylon wrapped around layers of foam or
harder padding

Chest protectors actually protect most of the upper body and generally
include a clavicle protector, extended shoulder caps and
bicep muscle floaters in addition to an air-cushioned or
foam pad chest protector

Chest protectors also include a spine protector for your back

Goalie Gloves

There are actually two different types of goalie gloves, the catcher and the blocker

Catcher

The catcher looks very much like an oversized first baseman's mitt and
is worn on your non-stick hand. Catcher gloves have an oversized catching
area, a molded one-piece thumb area, a precurved palm, and individual finger
areas.

Blocker

The blocker is worn on the stick hand and has a padded leather or
synthetic leather palm to hold a stick, and a wide, solid blocker to deflect
shots

Determining Your Glove Size

Gloves range from youth sizes of about 9 inches up to full adult sizes
of 16 inches

Use a tape measure to measure the distance from the end of your elbow
pads to the tips of your fingers

Goalie sticks are much larger and heavier than regular hockey sticks
with a wider blade and a wide paddle area between the stick
and the blade

The paddle area can be up to 26 inches long

The blade can be 3 1/2 inches wide and up to 15 1/2 inches long

Determining the Proper Length Stick

The length of your hockey stick must be correct for your size, since it
is very difficult to control an oversized or undersized stick

In choosing the length of a goalie stick, remember not to buy one that
is too short. The shaft can always be cut down if it seems too long, or you can
choke up on the shaft to make it easier to handle.

To determine the proper stick length:

Stand in your skates

Put the toe of the stick on the ground

The stick should reach somewhere between your chin and the tip of your
nose

Hockey skates are composed of two basic parts--the
boot and the blade.

Boot

Most skates are manufactured with a combination of leather and
synthetic materials for durability, performance and comfort. The exact mixture
of these components, with names like Kevlar® and
graphite, depends on the quality of the skate and the cost.

Goalie skates are similar in construction to regular hockey skates but
are designed differently with a wider blade and lower boot with more ankle and
foot protection

Blade

Skate blades are made of steel and have a concave (hollowed out)
shape

An important factor in performance is blade
radius- the amount of the skate blade that is actually in contact with
the ice

The radius is measured by placing the blades together, bottom to bottom
and holding them up to the light. The length where the blade edges make
contact is the radius.

Goalie blades have a less hollow grind and a larger radius

Determining Your Skate Size

Tips

Choosing the proper size for your hockey skates is different than
choosing the size for a pair of sneakers

Hockey skates need to be tighter to offer more stability and less
abrasion when skating

Remember to measure yourself wearing thick hockey socks

Do not buy larger sizes for children to grow into. This hinders their
ability to learn how to skate, and could hurt their feet and ankles.

Sizing

In order to determine the size skate you will need you must first
determine your shoe size, see Determine Your Shoe
Size

Once you have determined your proper shoe size, you can figure out what
size skates you will need depending on the brand of the skate:

Every goal pad has two breaks, one at the knee and one at the foot. You
want to make sure that these breaks are really broken in before using because
movement will be impaired if it is not. Here are some tips:

Hold the pad upright as if it was on your leg. Standing over it, push down
on the top of the pad so the knee bends and the foot articulates. Push as far as
it will go and then tie the pad in that position with a skate lace and leave overnight.

Untie the pads the following day and give them a few good hits with a hockey
stick. This stretches the leather and softens the
padding. Then tie them up again and repeat the entire process. After a few cycles, the pads should be
ready to wear on the ice.

From the time you get your pads, be sure to tie them up after use to
retain shape.

After time on the ice, allow your pads to dry properly. Hang them up in
a well-ventilated room. Do not put them in direct sunlight, which will dry
and crack the leather.

Kevlar® is a registered trademark of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and company